Game Boy Advance

Dynasty Warriors Advance

If you're into old school beat 'em ups that combine button mashing and item pickups, you are bound to enjoy every minute of Dynasty Warriors Advance. There's something about the simplicity that stops what is obviously repetitive gameplay from being boring. You'll be challenged to take it out on your Game Boy Advance.

Unfortunately, the power of combo attacks isn't balanced enough, and combat's simplicity robs it of rhythm. A similar equilibrium is not achieved by the overhead map, which contains some strategy, but is too restrictive.

n conclusion, DW Advance is an excellent 2D hack-n-slash title, but it really doesn't stand up to today's handheld gaming standards. If DW Advance was released 5 years earlier, it would have turned a lot of heads.

In spurts Dynasty Warriors Advance is a decent time-killer. I enjoy the game for five minutes here and there, 30 at most. It is not enjoyable to play if I force myself to stick around for any time period longer than that. The developers didn’t have many options with a game like this, one that’s so dependent on technology. But if you hate the thought of putting a game down because it might get boring, it doesn’t matter what you think of technology and how it’s implemented because you won’t like this game.

Compared to the console Dynasty Warriors games, Dynasty Warriors Advance is a watered-down imitation. On its own, it's a fairly generic and very repetitive button masher. Suffice it to say, if you already own another version of the game, you're better off sticking with it.

In the end, Dynasty Warriors Advance is a mediocre game in just about every department. There are way better action games on the GBA, and so I’d have to only recommend this game as a rental if you’re a fan of the series desperate to give this one a try. Everyone else, look elsewhere.

Loin d'être aussi immersif que ses illustres ancêtres, cette version portable de la série Dynasty Warriors comportait pourtant de bonnes idées, tentant même de réinjecter du sang neuf dans la saga. Malheureusement, trop limitée, soporifique et accusant de trop nombreuses tares ce Dynasty Warriors Advance se perd dans des difficultés de finition évidentes, qui nuisent à sa cohérence. La période des Trois Royaumes ne vous dit pas merci.

Dynasty Warriors Advance is dreadfully dull action on the GBA that truncates and abridges the over-the-top, crowded weapon-based brawler action established in several PlayStation 2 titles. But on a system with very few action buttons in an engine that can't represent the congested battlefields of the console versions, the game design just doesn't work on the handheld system.

As a pure, out and out challenge, Dynasty Warriors will give your button mashing fingers a real workout. If you're looking to experience and explore the depth of the Dynasty Warrior series you might as well pick up a Zelda game.

Dynasty Warriors Advance is perfect for those who want nothing but a straightforward, hack-and-slash game. It won't offer you substance, style, or even repeat gaming, but at least you won't need any illicit drugs to make your mind numb.

Challenge mode proves to be the brightest star in this title, but it doesn't seem to make up for the rest of the subdued gameplay. In past iterations, KOEI has managed to throw in enough new features its updated DW titles to keep gamers interested, but it really dropped the ball on this one. Dynasty Warriors Advance is something that only a true fan could appreciate. If this isn't an indicator to KOEI to let this series move on to greener pastures, I don't know what is.

n the end, Dynasty Warriors Advance bears little resemblance to any other version of the game, surgically removing all of the elements that made the console versions exhilarating and replacing them with a ridiculous button mashing session that is about as fun and exciting as folding napkins. Five soldiers attacking at a time, little or not real strategy, an ability system that is wholly unnecessary, a timer structure that adds nothing more than an excuse to get carpal tunnel syndrome and graphics that are sorely lacking in form and feature. In essence, this is a shameless cash in on a normally amusing franchise. Stay away from this one, even if you're a die hard fan.

I was trying to think of a similarly idiotic title to attempt to render on extremely limited hardware, and I was going with some sort of dancemat-based game. But then I realised, dancemat game for the DS, played with your fingers on the screen! It would be incredible. So while this review has now provided me with two brilliant new game ideas, and hence my future life of riches, that’s not enough to win me over. It wasn’t appropriate to make a GBA Dynasty Warriors, and the inevitable disappointment of an already extremely tired series has been fully realised.